Synaesthesia is a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Syn. Aes. The. Sia. The sharp taste of cheddar cheese. The loud pattern on the tourist’s shirt. Syn-aes-the-sia: The tip of the tongue snakes and slides in your palate to sneak, at three, a smile. The reason a woman hears melted golden butter in her husband’s voice, feels on her fingertips the scorching heat of the colour scarlet. It’s how we diagnose those with a gift for figurative language — poets who write about dark sounds and bitter laughs and blazing eyes. Synaesthesia is a most luscious word on the tongue with tantamount poetic meaning: it is the ability to see the intricate scaffolds of spoken words and climb them, to paint your own thoughts on the marble ceiling. More than a neurological condition, it is allowing the self to sense the poetry of our existence.